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Friday March 16 8:13 PM ET
San Francisco May Ban ``Sexy'' Ads for HIV Drugs
By Andrew Quinn
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - San Francisco may become the first city in the US to ban ``sexy'' advertising for HIV (news - web sites) drugs, with officials and activists saying that images depicting AIDS (news - web sites) patients as ``handsome, healthy and strong'' may be encouraging unsafe sexual practices.
Tom Ammiano, the president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, said on Thursday that he had called for an April 12 hearing on the proposed advertising ban, which would cover ads on city property such as bus shelters.
``This is about the rising rates of HIV infection, particularly in young people, versus the glamorization of the drugs in advertising,'' Ammiano told Reuters. ``It sends a message that if you get infected, just take a pill and you'll be beautiful and happy.''
San Francisco, one of the US cities hardest hit by the AIDS epidemic, is awash in advertising for anti-AIDS medications, with posters for such drugs as Merck & Co's Crixivan and Bristol-Myers Squibb's Zerit showing young, athletic men climbing mountains or declaring ``I'm Positive'' with seductive smiles.
Concerned that the advertising may be sending the wrong message about AIDS, the San Francisco Department of Public Health (news - web sites) launched a survey of men seeking treatment for sexually transmitted diseases at public clinics. Jeff Klausner, who conducted the study, said the preliminary results of the survey were disturbing and backed theories that ``treatment optimism'' might be one reason for the rising levels of new HIV infections in the city.
The survey found that 71% of respondents found the HIV drug advertisements depicted men who were ``healthy, handsome and strong,'' and 61% said that such advertising could affect a person's decision to have unprotected sex by downplaying the disease's serious physical toll. ``These drug ads are using sex to sell HIV medicines, which is like using (hamburgers) to sell cholesterol medicine,'' Klausner said.
Jeff Getty, a member of the San Francisco-based activist group Survive AIDS, said the drug companies' push to market treatments to the city's gay population has created a false sense of what it means to be infected with HIV and use the drugs, some of which can have debilitating side effects.
``These ads are in fact selling a fantasy, happy HIV-infected lifestyle. They are marketing the disease along with the treatments. We believe they (the drug companies) know this fact, but will deny it,'' Getty said.
Stephanie Brooks, a spokeswoman for Bristol-Myers Squibb, said the company considers its advertising a way of opening communication between patient and physician about various HIV therapy options. ``We will continue to revisit our ads and make sure they are reaching the appropriate audiences with the appropriate message,'' Brooks said.
Ammiano said that next month's hearing on the HIV advertising is intended to draw the drug companies into a dialogue with the AIDS activist community and city officials in hopes of forging a clearer message about life with HIV and the dangers of infection. ``I think they need to reformulate their message,'' Ammiano said. ``We need to have a conversation so that their ads are not as misleading, that they include the prevention message, and list side effects (of the drugs).''
Food and Drug Administration (news - web sites) spokesman Richard Klein said the FDA needs to see more data before it can reach any conclusions about the claimed link between unsafe sex and HIV drug advertising. ``I'm hearing a lot of concern over this...but so far we don't have legal jurisdiction to require them (drug companies) to change something at this point,'' Klein said.
San Francisco May Ban ``Sexy'' Ads for HIV Drugs
By Andrew Quinn
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - San Francisco may become the first city in the US to ban ``sexy'' advertising for HIV (news - web sites) drugs, with officials and activists saying that images depicting AIDS (news - web sites) patients as ``handsome, healthy and strong'' may be encouraging unsafe sexual practices.
Tom Ammiano, the president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, said on Thursday that he had called for an April 12 hearing on the proposed advertising ban, which would cover ads on city property such as bus shelters.
``This is about the rising rates of HIV infection, particularly in young people, versus the glamorization of the drugs in advertising,'' Ammiano told Reuters. ``It sends a message that if you get infected, just take a pill and you'll be beautiful and happy.''
San Francisco, one of the US cities hardest hit by the AIDS epidemic, is awash in advertising for anti-AIDS medications, with posters for such drugs as Merck & Co's Crixivan and Bristol-Myers Squibb's Zerit showing young, athletic men climbing mountains or declaring ``I'm Positive'' with seductive smiles.
Concerned that the advertising may be sending the wrong message about AIDS, the San Francisco Department of Public Health (news - web sites) launched a survey of men seeking treatment for sexually transmitted diseases at public clinics. Jeff Klausner, who conducted the study, said the preliminary results of the survey were disturbing and backed theories that ``treatment optimism'' might be one reason for the rising levels of new HIV infections in the city.
The survey found that 71% of respondents found the HIV drug advertisements depicted men who were ``healthy, handsome and strong,'' and 61% said that such advertising could affect a person's decision to have unprotected sex by downplaying the disease's serious physical toll. ``These drug ads are using sex to sell HIV medicines, which is like using (hamburgers) to sell cholesterol medicine,'' Klausner said.
Jeff Getty, a member of the San Francisco-based activist group Survive AIDS, said the drug companies' push to market treatments to the city's gay population has created a false sense of what it means to be infected with HIV and use the drugs, some of which can have debilitating side effects.
``These ads are in fact selling a fantasy, happy HIV-infected lifestyle. They are marketing the disease along with the treatments. We believe they (the drug companies) know this fact, but will deny it,'' Getty said.
Stephanie Brooks, a spokeswoman for Bristol-Myers Squibb, said the company considers its advertising a way of opening communication between patient and physician about various HIV therapy options. ``We will continue to revisit our ads and make sure they are reaching the appropriate audiences with the appropriate message,'' Brooks said.
Ammiano said that next month's hearing on the HIV advertising is intended to draw the drug companies into a dialogue with the AIDS activist community and city officials in hopes of forging a clearer message about life with HIV and the dangers of infection. ``I think they need to reformulate their message,'' Ammiano said. ``We need to have a conversation so that their ads are not as misleading, that they include the prevention message, and list side effects (of the drugs).''
Food and Drug Administration (news - web sites) spokesman Richard Klein said the FDA needs to see more data before it can reach any conclusions about the claimed link between unsafe sex and HIV drug advertising. ``I'm hearing a lot of concern over this...but so far we don't have legal jurisdiction to require them (drug companies) to change something at this point,'' Klein said.
